Moderate Caucuses in a Polarised US Congress

Jungkun, Seo; Theriault, Sean M.

doi:10.1080/13572334.2012.673065

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…A number of recent authors have provided evidence that the Republican Party, which has historically been the less catch-all of the two parties, today exerts far greater pressure for ideological conformity than does the Democratic party (see e.g. Hacker and Pierson, 2006;Seo and Theriault, 2012). Mann and Ornstein (2012), in particular, see the present problems of congressional gridlock as being far more due to Note: For each partisan mean, the curves on either side are one standard deviation above and below the mean.…”

Section: Effects Of Asymmetry In the Strengths Of The National Party Tethersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the electoral dynamics of party polarization in two-party legislatures

Merrill

Grofman

Brunell

2013

Journal of Theoretical Politics

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While there are many formal models that generate predictions about polarization, only a handful address the question of how, with no change in electoral rules, levels of polarization can dramatically vary over time, as they have in the US House during 150 years of two-party competition. We propose a model that emphasizes national party constraints on district candidates' ability to locate at positions far from the national party stance. The model predicts a close relation between tight tethers maintained by the national parties and congressional polarization, suggests implications for political competition, and generates the empirically accurate prediction that partisan polarization and within-party differentiation are negatively correlated. When the tethers of the two parties are not equally strong, the model suggests modifications to the conditional party governance approach and helps explain ideological shift/drift affecting both parties, with the party with the tighter tether moving the other party toward its ideological wake.

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Section: Effects Of Asymmetry In the Strengths Of The National Party Tethersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling the electoral dynamics of party polarization in two-party legislatures

Merrill

Grofman

Brunell

2013

Journal of Theoretical Politics

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“…More research should also be conducted on the effects that subpartisan groups have on voter perceptions and behavior. For example, a number of moderate coalitions exist within both parties (e.g., the New Democrat Coalition and the Republican Main Street Partnership), and members join such coalitions in order to appeal to moderate voters and secure reelection (Seo and Theriault, ). But are such connections salient enough to really affect voter perceptions?…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subpartisan Cues and Ideological Distinctions: The Effect of the Tea Party Label on Voter Perceptions of Congressional Candidates*

Gervais

2016

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective. We aim to fill a gap in the voter heuristic literature by estimating the impact of subparty cues-labels that connect candidates to an intraparty faction-on perceptions of candidates' ideological positions. We argue that the Tea Party label acts as a subpartisan cue, and should affect perceptions of both Republicans and their Democratic opponents. Methods. We measure ideological perceptions using data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), and measure Tea Party "saliency" based on how often candidates were linked with the Tea Party in news media. Using probit regression, we estimate the impact of Tea Party saliency on ideological perceptions of candidates. Results. We find that Republican candidates often associated with the Tea Party are more likely to be perceived as conservative or very conservative, even when we control for candidate and voter ideology, while their Democratic opponents are perceived to be more moderate. Conclusion. The results suggest that extremizing cues like the Tea Party label can have a moderating effect on opponents. These findings shed new light on the role and interaction of party-related voting cues, and have important implications for elections, campaigns, and voter opinion and behavior.

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“…On the contrary, Senators may exhibit diverging ideologies when voting on policy and procedural votes. For example, Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) voted for cloture on the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito, but ultimately against confirmation (Seo & Theriault, 2012). Moreover, both Landrieu and Pryor represented states that went decisively for President George W. Bush, the president who nominated Alito to the Supreme Court, indicating perhaps a potential cost to voting against the salient cloture vote.…”

Section: Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, both Landrieu and Pryor represented states that went decisively for President George W. Bush, the president who nominated Alito to the Supreme Court, indicating perhaps a potential cost to voting against the salient cloture vote. Since Alito’s confirmation was a foregone conclusion once cloture was invoked, the vote for final passage was less salient, leaving both Senators unconstrained on the confirmation vote (Seo & Theriault, 2012).…”

Section: Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Member-Level Determinants and Consequences of Party Legislative Obstruction in the U.S. Senate

Algara

Zamadics

2018

American Politics Research

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Are Senators cross-pressured by party influence and constituent demands on procedural votes? We present a theory positing that Senators are indeed cross-pressured between these two demands and that electorally vulnerable members use the increased salience of procedural votes to differentiate themselves from their party. In an analysis of Senate procedural votes since the 92nd Congress, we develop a new spatial measure of obstruction preference and demonstrate our finding in three ways. First, obstruction preferences have become more polarized as the Senate experiences more intense legislative obstruction. Second, electorally vulnerable members are most likely to break from their party on procedural votes. Third, we find that voters electorally reward majority party Senators who break from their party and behave like minority party obstructionists. Our findings suggest that, unlike the House, Senate procedural votes are special opportunities for lawmakers to separate themselves from their party.

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Moderate Caucuses in a Polarised US Congress

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Modeling the electoral dynamics of party polarization in two-party legislatures

Modeling the electoral dynamics of party polarization in two-party legislatures

Subpartisan Cues and Ideological Distinctions: The Effect of the Tea Party Label on Voter Perceptions of Congressional Candidates*

The Member-Level Determinants and Consequences of Party Legislative Obstruction in the U.S. Senate

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